Monday, September 29, 2008
2008 R&D 100 Winner
Above the protection of Earth’s atmosphere, solar radiation exerts its full power, helping trace elements in low Earth orbit rapidly degrade materials. In view of the damage atomic oxygen wreaks on polymer surfaces, ManTech SRS Technologies, Inc., Huntsville, Ala., designed CORIN (Colorless Organic/Inorganic Nanocomposite) XLS to provide protection against this sort of decay.
CORIN is unusual in that it doesn’t block the corrosion, it regrows a protective silicon dioxide layer after corrosion takes place. How? High levels of polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) have been covalently incorporated into the polyimide. This reacts with atomic oxygen to dynamically form new protective layers. In addition to its regenerative abilities, CORIN is durable to UV radiation, is colorless and optically clear, resists high temperatures, has low production cost compared to other resistant polymers, and is easily processed with existing equipment and non-chlorinated solvents. Sprayable, CORIN is designed to be applied to composites, and may also serve as a glass replacement for solar cells in orbit.
Technology
Nanocomposite
Developer
ManTech SRS Technologies, Inc.
